"INVALID CREDENTIALS INTERACTION REQUIRED" when adding new IMAP account in free outlook, while same account works fine in full outlook app.

Question

I am trying to add an IMAP account in the new outlook and I always get a connection issue "INVALID CREDENTIALS INTERACTION REQUIRED". But when adding the account with exactly the same IMAP settings in the licensed Outlook app works fine. Why is it not accepting it in the new free Outlook?

Answer 1

Yes, I'm having the same issue. I also know why it's happening. It's a bug that should have been caught pre-release in Microsoft's QA/Testing.

I was just about to check what version of so-called "New Outlook" I am on this time so i could quote it in this reply, but I've just discovered that Microsoft appear to have hidden the "About" menu item, meaning I can no longer easily tell you what release version I'm using. The "About" menu item is a piece of computing history so extraordinarily ubiquitous that, no exaggeration, several billion people on the planet Earth would know exactly what you meant and where to find it in moments. Even my mother could find the "About" menu. Except... now she can't. And neither can I. So I'm going to pause for a few seconds to quietly fume and attempt to compose myself before my hitherto unnecessary wild goose chase into Settings > Apps > Installed Apps -> Outlook (New) -> Advanced Options.....

OK, so I'm on Outlook (new) version 1.2024.207.500. Right. Let's crack on with my explanation of the ongoing farce that is Microsoft's inability to develop software in any fashion other than haphazard and slap-dash:

First thing to say is. Microsoft's approach to implementing the ability to add an account of type "IMAP" is one of "programming by trial and error" (let's call this proprietary development approach as PBTAE for short). When the developers/engineers/programmers/cloud engineers/devops engineers/scrum masters/product owners and so on, when they all convene at a kickoff meeting at the beginning of the project to build this dialogue box, they decide that they don't like their Quality Analysts' hair/accent/flared trousers/bad breath (delete as applicable) and collectively decide to ostracise the QA for the entirety of the project

OK OK OK look I'll get to the point. My error message is almost the same, it says "INVALIDCREDENTIALS INTERACTIONREQUIRED" (i,e. no spaces). Your password is not wrong. My password is not wrong. But I bet that you tried to configure this with the recommended "SSL / TLS Secure Connection Type" settings? Rather than "None" (i.e. the "hack-me" plain text over internet)? Of course you did. You seem like a switched on kind of dude. You're security conscious. A man of the world.

(I can't help but point out at this moment that I hope you're not using SSL, as that protocol was deemed insecure and deprecated almost 10 years ago)

Anyways.... Problem is that in the background the actual response from the IMAP server is something like "The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that cannot be verified” or suchlike. The IMAP server is then waiting for you to decide if you want to continue and it's expecting a text response Y or N from you , and that response never comes because it can't. Because it wasn't you that made the original request, so you pressing Y or N will make diddly-squat difference. It's waiting for Outlook to "press Y or N" for you. And Outlook can't do that, because the developers who wrote the code didn't expect that manual input as they weren't familiar with how encrypted email works, and therefore that scenario was never tested. So there.

Now we just need to get someone to fix it

Did you try reporting it as a bug?

Answer 2

i believe i have figured out a "work around" / Solution for this issue.

i too went down the rabbit hole with this one and after scrolling through and reading and testing all the responses i got really close with selecting the IMAP option and trying to set it up that way... unfortunately it was unsuccessful- until i saw the red text underneath that suggested using an app generated password/code instead so i went through the process and was able to get a yahoo mail app generated passcode and when using the IMAP it worked!

Here are the steps I took for the "New Outlook"

Open Outlook

Select Settings

Select Add Mail

Enter your Yahoo address and select connect/continue (for some reason this is the only way i could get to the advanced settings to get IMAP to come up) - You will of course get the error or unable to add mail.

Select Advanced Setup

Select IMAP

*Open your internet browser and go to "https://login.yahoo.com/myaccount/security/"

On the right column you'll see "Generate and manage app passwords" click on this

Create a name for the App Password (I just made mine Microsoft Outlook) then next

Once the key is visible copy the key and select okay.

Return to the new outlook that has the IMAP info open

now instead of entering your existing and always used password you're going to paste the App Password into the Password field instead

once that's done click continue/connect and batta bing batta boom you should be all set!

please let me know if this has worked for you guys!

Answer 3

I "fixed" this problem by switching email/calendar/task clients. Thunderbird is free; its settings are visible (make sure to try the hamburger menu on top-right, not just the icons on the left); and it works fine for multiple remote IMAP+CalDAV accounts.

https://www.thunderbird.net/

I know this isn't for everyone, but I'm now content to uninstall "New Outlook" and go back into the warm embrace of open-source open-standard software. I just downloaded it, and set up Gmail and iCloud in less than an hour, with app-specific passwords.

Answer 4

Here how I fix this error on my computer:
Go to %appdata%\Microsoft and remove SystemCertificates folder.
After that everything will be working fine.

Answer 5

I have the same problem when trying to add my Hotmail Email to the 'New' Outlook that is replacing Windows Mail. The Chat Support seem unable to grasp the differences between the Outlook WEB version (that works fine) the new Outlook for Win 10 /11 (replacing Win Mail) and the older Outlook 2010 software programs (.pst files) that I have not used in years since the introduction of Win 10.

If I could get help from someone who understands the issue first it might provide a solution to the problem.